The outgoing chief executive is vowing to make Amazon „Earth’s Best Employer.“
In his final letter to Amazon shareholders before stepping aside as CEO, Jeff Bezos offered a vigorous defense of the company’s treatment of its warehouse employees. But the billionaire also admitted that the retail giant needs to get its act together in the wake of a historic union drive at a company warehouse in Alabama. “I think we need to do a better job for our employees,” Bezos wrote in the letter. “While the voting results were lopsided and our direct relationship with employees is strong, it’s clear to me that we need a better vision for how we create value for employees — a vision for their success.” While much of Bezos’s final shareholder letter focused on all the good and value Bezos believes his company has accomplished for customers, shareholders, and Amazon merchants, the employee discussion hints at a CEO perhaps finally aware — even if just slightly — of his complicated legacy. Rather than just vague talking points, Bezos offered examples of how Amazon might seek to improve when it comes to employee treatment. For example, Bezos said he wants Amazon to continue to invent ways to reduce the most common type of injuries that Amazon warehouse employees suffer: strains and sprains from repetitive work. “We have always wanted to be Earth’s Most Customer-Centric Company,” Bezos said. “We won’t change that. It’s what got us here. But I am committing us to an addition. We are going to be Earth’s Best Employer and Earth’s Safest Place to Work.” Amazon aiming to be the world’s best employer is indeed a departure for the company; Amazon employees have told Recode over the years that even HR executives at the company have stated internally some version of the reality that Amazon is “customer-obsessed” and not “employee-obsessed.” But, as Amazon execs often do when the company faces critical scrutiny, Bezos offered a vigorous defense of the company that was dismissive of some employee complaints and the journalists who report on them.
